Trying
by AmericanAuthor01
Summary: The Seven survived a war. Leo survived death, and much more. Two years after the the Great War everybody is simply trying their best. This is a story of Leo trying his best to be okay. Leo/Reyna or Leo/Hazel
1. Begin

The hot stale air of the forge was hard to suck down as Leo took another deep breath, swinging his hammer down on his next masterpiece. It was an Imperial Gold Blade with a handle of pure white ivory with a distinct lightning design on the pommel. Leo's arms had begun to feel tired after so much time attempting to perfect his work. His small but very well defined muscles ached as he took a quick breather from the work that had consumed him for the past two days.

"Leo! Where are you? Why is it so hot in here? And ARE YOU DONE YET?"

The sword that he was currently making was for his best friend Jason, or at least his closest human friend because he was pretty sure he couldn't count Festus.

"Over here near the back!" Leo replied as she neared. He began to put his shirt back on, usually working with it off due to the extreme heat. He liked to admire his newly acquired muscles in the plenty of shined shields and armor around his workplace. Piper looked a bit more mature with it being almost 3 years since the war, her kaleidoscope eyes twinkling as she saw Leo get stuck in his own shirt attempting to put it on. The closer she got Leo noticed that he was now several inches taller than her, time was kind he thought as she approached him.

She looked at me and slightly smiled, "So have you finished Jason's sword yet? Him and Percy are gonna be sparring soon."

"Got it right here Pipes just needs a few finishing touches" "It's amazing Leo, and it's not even finished!" Piper exclaimed as she laid her eyes upon the gold and white sword for the first time. "Can you hurry up a bit though? Jason and I have reservations with the rest of the group that we won't make if they finish sparring late." Frank and Hazel were visiting from Camp Jupiter, where they lived. Annabeth had managed to corral Percy in long enough to move in with her and take college classes at the nearest community college until they were able to find something better.

"Oh the gang is here?"

"Yeah we wanted to throw a fun little couples night" Piper replied with a smile not noticing the faint expression of loneliness Leo had accidentally let appear on his face before quickly straightening it out. Leo continued to finish off the sword, all the while thinking of how much has changed since the war.

Finally Leo finished and handed the sword to Piper in a white leather scabbard,"Have one of the Hecate kids enchant it to transform into a coin or something later". As Leo turned his back to wipe his hands of residual grime he could hear Piper say a faint thanks as she ran out the forge excitedly.

Leo looked down at the shadow his body cast against the sunlight leaking in through the open doorway where his friend had left through.

"Have fun"

-  
Leo flopped down on his bed looking at the ceiling of his personal room. He felt a weird tingle in his right forearm and moved to scratch the itch he felt but only met cold bronze. He had forgotten about that. The Apollo kids said it was phantom limb. During the Battle of Olympus also was shot down while flying on Festus by some of the catapults Gaea's forces were fight with, medieval much?At the moment he thought nothing of it, he just threw some ambrosia in his mouth to ease the pain and took back to the air, throwing flaming tools off his dragon with his uninjured arm. Later on it was discovered that his arm was absolutely shattered, the adrenaline and ambrosia making Leo not notice at the time. No magic or medicine could've saved it.

When he had been recovering from his injury he'd been and absolute wreck. Leo was first and foremost a, builder. An inventor. A son of Hephaestus. A mechanic, just like his mom. So when he lost his arm it felt like he had lost everything, he'd lost who he was. He lost what made him important. Leo was ashamed to admit that during that point in time he'd even considered ending it. It was only for a brief second before he realized that he had a lot to live for but it happened. He thought about it. His morning coffee was replaced but with morning Tequila. He justified to himself by saying it helped relieve the pain but nothing ever really relieved it. His days and nights were consumed with wallowing in pity by himself in Bunker Nine, telling people he was simply working on something new so they wouldn't notice how weak he actually was.

Leo tried to move on. Losing an arm shouldn't completely cripple a hero like him he thought as he pushed through the urge to give up. But it's hard to keep fighting when the universe finds every possible way to keep you down when you do. One drink to numb the pain became two just to make sure. Two drinks became three because why not he's not do anything else right. The rest were for when he realized that drinking made it easier to forget. Eventually someone noticed.

 _July 7th, 2013 (approx. one year after The Great War)_  
 _"Hey guys do you know where Leo is? I haven't seen him in awhile." Nyssa yelled across the forge of Cabin 9._

 _"He's probably just in the Bunker like always Nys he usually gets lost in a project and forgets to tell us" replied Steven, one of her older brothers._

 _"Well I'm gonna go check. He's been really different since we all came back."_

 _Grabbing a blowtorch to open the door Nyssa left the Cabin and headed towards the forest, where the Bunker was located. After about a five minute walk she made it to large stone surface that served as the bunkers doors. Using the blowtorch she entered as the doors slowly pulled away._

 _The inside was dim as Leo seemed to only keep one light on in the center of the room. At first it was difficult to confirm what she saw but as she got closer Nyssa was sad to see that her eyes had not deceived her. Sitting on his chair with his face plastered to his desk lay Leo with bottles all around him. The overwhelming smell of alcohol and must grew stronger the closer she got to him. Being closer Nyssa noticed the tear stains on his face as he slept. Leo was not okay._

After that day Nyssa had pulled Leo up from his depression and forced him to fight. If he could not find the strength with himself to keep going then he would use hers until he could. She fed him when he tried to starve himself. She bathed him when he would relapse and puke on himself. She forces him to leave the Bunker every once in awhile to experience life outside of pity. Nyssa was slowly but surely helping Leo love life again.

She (along with the rest of Cabin Nine) had worked together for a month straight creating a prosthetic good enough for their brother. The exterior was a simple sleek bronze design, it being Celestial Bronze but the interior was the interesting part. It was filled with all types of hidden functions that Leo still didn't quite comprehend to this day. He had cried tears of happiness when his Cabin presented it to him and Nyssa explained all the ins and outs.

But right as life had been getting better, right when Leo began to believe that maybe he could be okay again the universe set out to bring him down once again. It had happened so quick. It was Leo's 17th birthday, exactly a year from the day Nyssa had found him when she died. She was driving to the store to get him a birthday cake when she was t boned by someone who was on their phone. The paramedics told him it was instant, that she felt no pain. But did any of that fucking matter when his sister lay dead and broken in her car with no one with her? She survived two wars to die like this. She killed for her family to die like this. She was a good person and she was gone in an instant.

Losing her was almost as bad as when he lost his mother. Except this time it stings a little more because he doesn't have the veil of childhood innocence to soften the blow. Grief is a bitch. There was one night after the funeral where he sat and stared at a bottle for hours wondering if it'd help. But Nyssa wouldn't have wanted that.

As Leo sat in his room lost in the memories of his sister he feared sleep. Because with sleep came nightmares and he wasn't looking forward to nightmares. He had recently begun to feel tired all the time since he often skipped sleep for work but tonight he just felt so...empty. The nights had began to be Leo's dreaded time of day, even more than the times it was his turn to clean out the Pegasus stables. As the moon slowly descended he had a single thought before he let the nightmares take him again," Hope those guys are having fun."

He woke up the next morning in an absolute panic crying and gripping the sheets of his bed tightly in flaming hands. He had a nightmare of watching Nyssa walking to her car that day, he would follow her begging her to stop but she won't stop. She'd get in the car, lock in her seatbelt, look him straight in the eyes and say that she'd be back. Then the car hits her right in front of him. He was never able to stop her no matter what he did. It was a dream he'd been having for awhile. The worst part was that whenever she was pulling out she'd roll down her window and tell him she loves him.

Leo hasn't been able to stop her, but he will. He let real Nyssa die but he wouldn't let dream Nyssa die to.

As he collected his thoughts at waking up yet again to a nightmare he checked his tricked out "Team Leo" alarm clock Harley had gotten him for staying alive through the Giant War. It read a solid 5:32 A.M he groaned at the earliness because he usually can't go back to sleep after a nightmare. He took off the work clothes he slept in and put on a pair of grey sweats and an old Camp shirt he had laying around. Putting on a grey sweater and worn out sneakers Leo stepped out Cabin 9 with the cup of coffee he prepared with the coffeemaker he had installed shortly after he was named counselor. With his hood covering his wild curls he was able to walk around unnoticed by the slim percentage of early risers in Camp.

As he took a walk around just taking in everything he stared at the roads in front of Camp with some parts fear and some parts regret. He went to the beach to sit and just admire the sunrise but when he got there he spotted his friends. Apparently they had gotten back late and all slept around the bonfire that they had had going on. The couples all slept cuddled together on different blankets, each couple having their own.

"So they did have fun, good for them." thought Leo as he began to walk away.

He spent the rest of his morning in Bunker Nine with Festus and Buford thinking of endless upgrades and listening to some Green Day that reminded him of Thalia, Jason's sister who had stopped by the camp several times to visit Jason in the past two years. The beginning of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was playing with Leo having a perfectly good self pity session before a knock alerted him. Checking his watch he noticed it was already 1, most of the campers being awake now. Opening the door an Apollo camper showed himself.

Confused Leo asked him what he wanted, "The Romans are here to discuss a plan suggested by the Gods themselves and want ALL the Seven there."

"Alright Wes I'll be there just give me a bit" "Its in 20 minutes Leo be there" he said with a bit of finality before walking away from the entrance back to camp. As Leo moved to say bye to Festus he whispered to him "This better be interesting".

As he walked to the amphitheater he felt kinda self conscious in his slummy looking grey sweats and ratty sweater. He still had it zipped up due to the cold morning weather not helped by Bunker Nine's lack of a heater. You would think a human flamethrower wouldn't get hot but recently his fire hasn't been hot. Maybe it knows just how bad Leo's emotional state is and is working off of that. He never really understood his power. Ever since Nyssa Leo doesn't even feel like he has the gift, the only times his fire feels hot is after the nightmares.

Maybe Hephaestus just decided Leo didn't deserve the gift anymore. Leo wouldn't blame him if it was him and that was his reason, he was not a "great" son of his anymore. All he could take pride in is the fact that he was, he was once good enough for his father and his family before he let them down or more importantly, he let Nyssa down. If only he had stopped her. Maybe she would be alive and Leo's fire would return to him. Maybe then he would stop feeling so damn cold inside. His chest ached as he thought about the pain he felt inside. It was always there now, sometimes not as bad but it never went away.

As he shook the thoughts out his mind, he took a look at the camp that had become his home, with friends he considered family. Recently it's been different, they started to treat Leo differently since Nyssa. Most weren't sure how to act since he lost his arm but since her death he's become a social outcast. No one had conversations with him anymore without glancing at his arm every 10 seconds or giving him the looks of pity as if he was broken. Maybe he was. Hoping to distract himself Leo walked even quicker to the meeting Chiron has kept secret but he noticed something strange.

Remembering a few faces he knew what was up right away, smirking he said under his breath and speeding his walk a bit,"The Romans are here".

As Leo neared the amphitheater you could hear the commotion before you even saw it. The clamoring of hundreds of teenagers in the stands all combined to create a restless atmosphere as the combined group of Roman and Greek teens wondered why exactly their leaders had brought them together. Looking around Leo spotted a roped off area where he found the rest of his friends joking with each other.

"Hey Leo", greeted Hazel as she was only one to notice him since Jason and Percy had got into an arm wrestling match with the rest cheering for their respective sides. Leo replied with a small smile and sat down a bit away from the rest of them, he didn't do it it on purpose it was just kinda instinct. Hazel noticed however and looked at him with concern in her eyes before sitting down next to him tapping his arm for his attention. "Hey Hazel! Why aren't you with them?" Leo said with a nod of his head toward the group. "I should be asking you that Leo, you've been really distant from the rest of us lately is everything okay?". Pulling his right sleeve down a bit self conscious of his arm, an act not ignored by the watchful golden eyes of the daughter of Pluto, Leo replied "No need to worry about the Bad Boy Supreme Hazel just a couple sleepless nights is all". As he turned away not being able to lie to her and look her in the eye Hazel grabbed his left arm. "I know that's not all Leo. I'm...We're all worried about you and just want to see you get better" she said looking deep into his eyes. As Leo stared at the girl that could've been, he felt old feelings stir inside but he pushed them away as guilt clouded his mind for even thinking about it.

"Doesn't seem like they're worried", Leo said coldly as he abruptly turned away from her before scooting away and staring straight at the stage waiting for the announcement to begin.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" Chiron belted out as loudly as possible to gain control over the GrecoRoman population before Mr. D busted out a bit of godly power that silenced everyone.

"As you all know we are being visited by our allies of the West, our Roman brothers and sisters!" At this loud cheers can be heard from the group before they quieted down almost instantaneously. "This is because of big plans given to us by the gods themselves! I would like to invite a proper hero and leader, Reyna! She will help explain." Leo spotted a figure in bright golden armor with a purple cape following her like a colored gust of wind. As she made her way to Chiron Leo couldn't help but notice just how breathtaking an image she'd created. Her posture, her attire, just everything about her made her out to be a stunning warrior queen destined to lead her people to glory, and Leo thought she actually was in a not so far fetched way.

"Over this past year Greek and Roman unity has become a strong pillar in the demigod community and the gods have noticed. After seeing our strength in the war the gods have offered an idea, an idea they will help with." Reyna said as she walked around locking eyes with apparently everyone in the crowd, the charisma that comes with being praetor shining through brilliantly. But as her eyes landed on Leo they stayed. Leo didn't back down but kept her gaze, her eyes had so many layers of emotion he couldn't look away and apparently she felt the same. It went on briefly until Chiron awkwardly coughed. " They want us to be one" Reyna finished with a blush on her face desperately trying to keep a straight face.

"In accordance by the word of the gods we are to unite and be one city. A city of Greeks and Romans where we will never again be used against each other, instead we will find safety and strength in each other."

At this announcement there were several reactions. There was the classic shock the look most had not knowing how to process exactly what it meant, then there was anger as some Romans who had still not gotten over their hate immediately protested the idea, and lastly there was joy. The look on Leo's friends was amazing as they all group hugged happy that Frank and Hazel would be around way more. But as Hazel hugged Frank, her being the same height thanks to her higher seat, she locked eyes with Leo before he guiltily looked down. He then walked out the amphitheater under the distraction provided but many loud teenagers distracted by big news, not knowing a pair of dark brown eyes following his exit with interest.

As Leo walked away he felt conflicted, he should be happy for Hazel and Frank, them being his close friends he would be able to see more now. But Leo just wasn't able to smile at that thought. As he kicked a rock around he heard his name being called. He turned around to find Hazel running after him. Her brown, curly hair bounced around as she jogged to him before framing her face as she stopped. The purple of her shirt was faded and tied to be smaller, obviously an old one of Frank's seeing at how huge it was. Leo tried not to look at the small part of midriff the tied shirt had exposed but he couldn't help it.

"Leo! Are you even listening?" Leo snapped out of it before replying, "Yeah what's up? Why'd you follow me"

"You left so early so I went to check on you".

Leo looked down before putting his hands on his hips and turning around saying "Frank doesn't know your checking on me huh?"

"No but that isn't impor-"

"What are you doing Hazel?" This made Hazel rub her hands nervously as she looked down, before she looked up to meet Leo in the eye, which made her hair frame her face quite beautifully Leo guiltily added. "Nemesis." was all she said as she stepped closer to him.

"Why are you the seventh wheel Leo? You deserve so much more." Hazel said as she put a hand on his chest. Leo put his hand on her lower back as he touched his forehead to hers, "I got what I deserve. And lost what I didn't." he replied before opening his eyes to admire her. Her full lips were only inches away from his own. But just as the moment seemed about to collapse Hazel leaned in before Leo turned his head slightly, ending up near her ear. "I'm not worth it." he whispered before he untangled their bodies and quickly walked back to Bunker 9.

Hazel stood there for a few minutes just registering what happened and what she had almost done. She rubbed her hands for warmth, Leo's skin unnaturally looked in the direction Leo went with worry before whispering to herself,"Yes you are" and walking back to Frank, her boyfriend.

Reyna didn't quite understand Leo Valdez. Last she'd seen of him was at the beginning of last year when she visited for some festival, but even then it was for a few minutes before he disappeared walking towards the forest all alone. Seeing him taller, more muscular, and some facial hair under that ratty hoody shocked her. His dark eyes seemed to suck her in as he stared at her right back. After her announcement he looked around for a bit before leaving early. Why would he do that if all his friends were still there thought Reyna as she left to her given Cabin as Chiron dismissed the camp about 15 minutes later.

She stripped off her armor and cape as she thought of the new city to be built. It was a great idea, beneficial to everyone with only extremists like Octavian against the unity. As she thought of unity Reyna held up the orange camp shirt Chiron had given her as a gift. She shrugged before taking off the purple and donning the orange, going to the arena right after. She trained with several partners for a couple of hours before stopping to rest and relax, but not before stopping by her cabin for a shower and some essentials first. Grabbing her favorite sugary snack she headed to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset.

Reyna went through so much leading the legion so it was nice to just relax and watch the sun go down with a bag of Jelly Beans in hand as she wondered how her dogs were doing with the Vulcan kid she left them with back in New Rome. She hoped they didn't eat him. With her mind lost in thought she almost didn't hear the slightly familiar voice say her name or at least she thought. "Reina?", a somewhat deep voice inquired a few feet behind her. She replied as she turned around saying ," Are you calling me a queen?", before shock took over as the boy with the brown eyes met her gaze.

"You know it beautiful."

 _First Fanfiction guys! Constructive criticism is always appreciated._ **** ** _ **All rights go to Rick Riordan.**_**


	2. Next

Hephaestus grunted as he lifted the war hammer he was crafting for some minor god that didn't annoy him too much. The blazing heat of his forge didn't effect him as he put the hammer back in the flames, watching as the red hot tongues of heat licked away at the cold metal. As Hephaestus waited for his masterpiece to finish he stared at the mini television he had in his forge. It displayed an image of his son Leo walking up to a raven haired beauty on a beach. Hephaestus loved the boy and hoped the girl could provide the company Leo has needed to keep his head above water.

No matter how many people say it Hephaestus believed in loving his children, he tried but he just wasn't meant for human interaction. But Leo, he was different. He was, in a way, a lot of things Hephaestus wished he was, which was why it was so hard watching him hurt so bad. After losing Nyssa even Hephaestus himself went into a period of depression but Leo, he shut down. He blamed himself and was destroying himself from the inside. The fire in him recognized his wish and gave up. As his passion for life died out his personal fire followed his example. Hephaestus almost cried at the thought of his blessed son cursed to never use the gift he'd given him ever again, his veins filled with ice as he tries his best to stay warm. Hephaestus summoned a flame in his hand and stared at the image he had conjured in it, a six year old Leo cooking empanadas with his Mom. Both laughing as Leo threw flour at her face and got into a food fight. Esperanza was an amazing woman. He'd had many children but it was no accident that Leo was one of the rare children of his to inherit his affinity for flame. While it is not fully understood, except by Aphrodite of course, the connection between the love of the parent and the strength of the demigod exists. I remember first meeting his mother in her shop. I had been drawn to her shop as she, and it, had managed to capture so much of my essence that I felt a pull. She was an amazing person.

"Leo? You're...taller." replied Reyna with a odd look on her face properly taking in this new Leo. The ratty and loose clothes did nothing to hide his now built body, his skin paler thanks to his many hours of work indoors. His eyes held bags from what Reyna assumed were countless sleepless nights. What worried her however was what caught her attention to him in the first place. His dark brown eyes shown with a darkness only found in survivors of tragedy.

"Yeah that tends to happen after a couple years." Leo said jokingly, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the floor.

"What're you doing here? Don't you have a camp to blow up or something?" Reyna said with such a straight face that Leo almost laughed but didn't because he wanted to stay alive. "You can't still be mad about that Reyna it's been three years!" Leo replied with a laugh and a over exaggerated wave as he sat down next to her. She raised her eyebrows at the closeness of them but she didn't act on it choosing instead to pop another jelly bean in her mouth and stare at the sunset.

Reyna looked over at Leo who had his legs pulled near him as he rubbed his hands for warmth.

"You're cold? Didn't know that was possible."

"A lot of impossible things have been happening Reyna, keep up." Leo replied with a smile.

They shared a laugh before sitting in silence yet again. Reyna shuddered finally feeling the cold bite at her as the sun's warmth disappeared, seeing this Leo took off his jacket. "Here you go _Reina,_ can't have a queen get cold." Reyna accepted it with a nod before wrapping it around her, still feeling the cold she looked at Leo. He was walking around gathering dead wood for a fire.

"What're you doing?" She asked genuinely curious at his actions.

"Think I'm gonna stay here a bit, it's relaxing. Gonna make a fire so I don't freeze and become a Leosicle." Reyna watched the tall tanned teenager as he collected the wood and almost couldn't imagine the Leo she had met years ago, it felt like another world. She was spacing out when Leo caught her attention again barely whispering out the invitation without looking at her.

"You can stay if you want."

Hearing this caught Reyna off guard as she tried not to choke up too much. She's not usually emotional but it'd been awhile since she'd physically heard someone say they wanted her around.

"Only staying because I'm too lazy to move, don't get any ideas Flamehead." She replied drawing herself closer to the growing fire.  
"Why are you by yourself Leo? Shouldn't you be with the Seven celebrating?" Leo stopped tending the fire for a bit just standing still. "Just needed some Leo time, no other reason." Reyna knew he was lying, she had become a bonafide lie detector running the legion for as long as she did, dealing with snakes like Octavian on a daily basis, but she let it pass. He obviously didn't want to talk about it so she changed the subject. "What's your favorite candy?" Leo laughed at the abrupt and strange question before replying with a joke. They spent the rest of the night talking about things not related to the real world. They talked about almost everything, as long as it wasn't serious or required them to face reality. Reyna forgot about the stress she dealt with and the scars of her past that haunted her. Leo forgot about the nightmares that haunted him and the coldness he always felt. For one night it was just Reyna and Leo talking around a fire, they weren't a demigod of prophecy and possibly one of the greatest praetors seen in the new age. They were just two troubled teenage kids having fun.

Leo woke up with a something in his mouth. He spit it out and tried to move but his arm was stuck, looking around he tried to remember where he was. Finally remembering the night before he realized he didn't have a nightmare last night, smiling he looked at the person holding on to him keeping him from jumping in joy. Reyna had her head on his chest still sleeping with Leo's jacket on top of them, acting as a temporary blanket. Leo had went to adjust Reyna last night since she had shrugged the jacket off when she had accidentally fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation about how to properly make a quesadilla. When he had moved to tuck the jacket under her she trapped his arm and brought him close to her, all while still asleep. Leo didn't want to wake her up so he just accepted the impromptu snuggle session before falling asleep himself.

He moved a piece of hair behind her ear as her eyes opened slowly. "Leo? What're you doing?" She said as she got up no longer trapping him. " You had something in your face." Leo said noticing her lack of complaint at their closeness." You fell asleep on me last night." " I know sorry." She said with what Leo suspected as false sincerity.

"You know the time?"

"Like around 5 I think"

At this she begun to tie her hair up with a band she wore on her wrist. "I'm gonna head to my cabin and actually sleep on a real bed." She began moving away from him towards the cabins but before she was out of listening distance Leo called out to her.

"Hey Reyna!" she stopped and turned to him, "Yeah?".

"Thank you". She replied with a nod before going back to the cabins yet again. Little did she know that he saw the blush that appeared on her face. He gave a little laugh before cleaning up the fire pit. It would be another morning of work for him but he actually didn't mind this time.

"I'm on the Highway to Hell!" Blasted out the large speakers hanging on the walls in Bunker Nine. Leo bobbed his head to the AC/DC classic as he worked on his newest project. Leo decided that he needed a proper weapon since he had lost his arm in the battle, having wielded only tools to defend himself. He had left into the city after he had woken up after his night with Reyna on the beach, he smiled at the thought of that. He broke into the nearest gun shop that had what he required and returned to camp, after leaving some cash of course. He then spent the rest of the morning making personal adjustments, engraving it with designs he thought in his mind and just what he felt looked right. The result was two personally engraved Desert Eagle .50 with the names "Forever" and "Always" engraved on the barrel. He had named it in hopes of a future where he can protect the peace his world held now. The weapon contained a magazine of a mixed metal group of both mortal steel and celestial bronze bullets, just in case.

He was contemplating the problem of getting so much of the rare mixed metal bullets when a holster appeared that you strap to your chest. It had space for his guns on either side with a mag held in a holster in the center near his chest where the holster connected. Testing it Leo discovered that the mag is automatically replaced when it's removed. All that was found when he found it was a small note with the letter "H" on it, so his father didn't hate him. This day was getting better and better. He finished his adjustments around 10 and spent the rest of the afternoon practicing his aim with the weapon, he wasn't that bad.

As Leo practiced in the homemade firing range he had created in Bunker Nine he realized that his metal arm was easily capable of keeping up with the recoil of the monster of a firearm. As he realized the amount of strength and training required to master the on hand firing with his other hand Leo went to work immediately, spending the rest of the day testing the limits of his strength and techniques to properly duel wield. By the end of the day he was exhausted but proud of himself, his night with Reyna had actually allowed him to feel rested and enjoy his work for once. Maybe he was making progress Leo thought as he walked out the Bunker, the lights shutting off automatically.

As Leo walked through the forest he wondered why he left his new weapons at the Bunker looking at the shadows that could take him any second. The moonlight danced with the darkness as Leo rubbed his hands for warmth. He was surprised to see that it had managed to actually work in warming him up for a bit. For a long time Leo felt cold, physically and emotionally but now he just had a gut feeling that maybe it was almost over. As Leo contemplated what caused his change of luck he heard a commotion as he passed the stables. A loud crash and a slight shriek inside alerted him before he rushed in drawing a hammer from his belt trying to light it on fire but to no avail.

"Oh hey Leo" said Hazel as she looked up in embarrassment trying to stop Arion from stomping away after she refused to give him his 5th bar of gold that night. "What're you doing here this late Haze?" Leo asked with concern as he drew closer noticing a small cut near the top of her right brow."I needed a break and went to spend it with my horse but as you can see he's being a brat" she replied giving him a look before he snorted in a what Leo was assumed was a series of curse words even he didn't know.

"Need a break from what? Being a walking bank?" Leo said with a laugh trying to lighten her mood as she looked upset. With a laugh she replied,"No just from Frank. Ever since the we got serious he's been really protective and jealous. I know he does it because he cares but I just feel trapped sometimes." As she said this she looked him in the eyes hoping to see that she wasn't crazy for thinking like she was in his eyes.

"He's not crazy for being jealous at least" he said backing up against the wall putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry Leo. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable but I'm not sorry for what I said, you do deserve way more than what the fates have given you." She said with so much intensity that Leo looked up into her eyes.

"I'm bad news Hazel. I'll use you and leave you as broken as I am."

"I don't care." She replied before throwing herself at him. She tangled her hands in his hair as they lost themselves in each other. Clothes flew off as the midnight moon shined through the stable ceiling upon the two teens.

He stared at the naked form of Hazel as she slept on him. It kinda reminded him of his night with Reyna except much more...weighted. He knew there were gonna be consequences but he didn't care because in these past two days he felt what he couldn't feel in almost a year. He felt warm...the scary part was that he didn't know why. Looking back at the mistake he didn't regret, he kissed her head and went back to sleep, nightmare free of course.


	3. Then

_March 3, 1995. Houston, Texas_  
The streets of Houston gleamed brightly under the bright light of the sun. Apollo must be in a great mood thought Hephaestus as he walked across the street leading to the strange machine shop he felt drawn to. The feeling had come out of nowhere but he'd definitely felt it. He'd been to countless machine shops but this one, this one felt different. He was presenting himself as a tanned, Latino man w a thick mane of hair to go along with his flowing black beard. The mechanic shirt he wore was a size too big with oil stains serving as his own version of a personal touch.  
As he drew near Hephaestus wondered what could be in this plain mortal shop that had managed to catch the eye of a god. He no longer had to guess after opening the door.

"Hi! Welcome to my shop, how can I help you?"

"I'm actually looking for some work."

"One of my guys did just leave for another job in San Diego so another hand would be appreciated. I'm assuming you know your way around a place like this?" She replied with laughter as she very specifically eyed the stains dotting my shirt.

"I understand though. It can be easy to get lost in what we do, I feel at my best with my head in the clouds and my hands at work. But enough of me rambling I'm sorry I never did quite catch your name. Look at me hiring someone and not even knowing what to call you."

"I'm Hector."

"Esperanza."

Mornings invite the light to expel the darkness but Leo still can't help but fucking hate them. They are his stage of shame where he is forced to relive memories he believed were confined to his head. It's the first few minutes in the morning that he hates, where you're not sure what's happening and everything is a wonderful blur. Then reality hits and forced to process what's actually happening. For him this experience is a replay of him reliving his tragedies. Sometimes he wakes up crying out for Nyssa, reaching out with an arm that's not there anymore. Sometimes he wakes up shivering, trying anything to feel warm again. Mornings are just not for Leo.

Today Leo is going into town. He's not quite sure why but he's had an itch to explore and adventure that he hasn't been able to scratch since before. The day can turn into anything because he's okay with that. Even if all he ends up doing is walking the streets of New York from all day then that is enough for him because he was starting to get tired of always feeling bad for himself. Maybe he'll catch a movie. Maybe fight a couple hellhounds. All the same to him.

As he got ready to exit and enjoy his day off Leo heard a knock on his door.

"LEO! HAZEL'S OUTSIDE THE CABIN LOOKING FOR YOU!" Screamed Harley through the door.

"THANKS FOR MAKING SURE I HEARD THAT HARL NOW GET TO ARCHERY I KNOW YOU'RE LATE!"

Leo laughed before taking a deep breath and palming his face with both hands as he tried to figure out what he was gonna do. He can't make her wait out there forever but he just can't have this conversation with her right now. Resolving himself Leo opened the door of his cabin and met eyes with one of the other Great Seven of Prophecy. Hazel's golden eyes seemed bottomless as they met his, trapping him in almost immediately.

"We need to talk."

"Yeah I guess we probably should."

"Can we do it somewhere more private?" She replied, looking up at him through her long lashes. She wore an overly large, burgundy sweater over her camp shirt that seemed to swallow her figure entirely.

"Uh yeah we can go to the Bunker."

The walk over was equal parts painstakingly awkward and undeniably layered. The wood life filled the absence of noise left behind by the two demigods.

"Do you love Frank Hazel?"

"Yes. I think I do."

"Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you're best person I know." At this Hazel stopped and had begun to tear up as she made eye contact with him.

"The Seven of us were connected way before we were born, given destinies that would have us fighting wars before we're even able to vote. But you've always had to fight to live your destiny. And whether you believe yourself good enough or not Leo I will always know you are a hero."

"Hazel I'm not good enough." Leo replied so harshly that Hazel could almost feel the venom he had injected into his words.

"I'm a one armed failure of a hero who can't save anyone! My mom's dead! My sister's dead! How can you look at me and love me Hazel? You deserve better than this. You deserve Frank. I should've never gotten in the way of your guys' happiness." At this point both were crying as they tried to help the other understand.

"You saved me. And Frank. And Percy. And Jason. And every other person in this world. Leo I know we were born into this prophecy but the gods didn't decide how we would handle it. How we would live it."

Leo let the tears run down his face as he looked up at those golden eyes that seemed to understand him in ways he wasn't sure was possible. Wiping his tears away with his sleeves he finally asked her,

"Why me?"

"Becau-"

"And not because I'm a hero. Or because I'm a good person. None of that bullshit. Fuck the prophecy and fuck being a demigod. What happened between us. I'm talking about Leo and Hazel here okay? The people. Not the heroes."

"You make me feel alive. It can sound weird coming from the daughter of a death god but I'm sorry Leo but it's true. I know Frank loves me. I love him. He makes happy even if he has his problems as a boyfriend but in all honesty he's a good guy. But you make me look forward to living the day. You taught me to never neglect making good memories even if all is bad. To remember to laugh. To live and love as much as possible while we can. Leo you have your problems I know that. We're all broken, some more than others but how we pick up the pieces is what's most important. You think I didn't notice you? Your struggle? They told me to give you space but you can't be alone. You shouldn't be alone. I won't let you do this to yourself anymore."

Leo didn't know what to say. Here was one of the girls who got away praising him yet he was stuck, speechless. Noticing his lack of reply Hazel wiped her face before saying,

"You don't have to reply. Just remember you're not alone. I have to get going." Leo stared at her figure as she walked away slowly. After about three steps she stopped and asked without turning, "Can I visit you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

It was another few steps before she stopped again.

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Despite all we got going on you're still one of my best friends."

"You're one of mine to."

"Love you. See you tomorrow."

"Love you to."

Reyna loves mornings. While yes they are linked to the horrible monster that is the start of work they also offer the best moments to be alone. Watching the world wake up on her runs is one of her favorite things to do, along with stopping by the candy shop on the way home for her daily fix of jellybeans. Morning always remind her of the sea. The days at Circe's island were some of the best in her life if you could believe it. It was an almost too perfect island paradise, until it wasn't. Yes Reyna loves mornings, sometimes.

Today was her day off as she'd been hard at work the last couple of months organizing the development of the new city to be built in the coming year. It was complicated business as she organized with the other leaders, and gods, to build a home for demigods that will actually live up to the name. While the gods claimed they'd sing tales of her feats for years she'd be fine if this city was her only legacy. To give a home to kids like her will legacy enough for her if it mean none will have to be alone, like her. She was jolted out her thoughts when someone called her over during her run.

"Reyna!"

Turning her head Reyna could see Percy goofily call her over as hair flopped around. He was sitting in a chair near the fire with Annabeth sitting on his lap reading a huge book titled simply "ARCHITECTURE" in big gold letters.

"Hey Percy! Hey Annabeth!" She replied with a smile as she walked over and removed her headphones. She slowly lowered the volume so they wouldn't discover her secret guilty pleasure of listening to the High School Musical albums on repeat when she runs. What can she say they make her feel young.

"It should be illegal for you to be running this early." replied Percy.

"You know I'm surprised you're up at all. I thought you don't get up before 12 so what the special occasion? We didn't even have any meetings." Asked Reyna with a laugh.

"Wise Girl here wanted breakfast so I took her out to iHop. We just got back and she's already reading so she can get everything and I quote "perfectly perfect" when she submits her plans to her mom." Hearing this Annabeth affectionately thumped her boyfriend in the back of the head before calling him a Seaweed Brain and getting back to her book. Reyna had always admired their relationship, even if she had had a crush on Percy when they'd first met. The two were just so complimentary, just who they were as people worked well together. It was almost as if someone had written a great love story with Percy and Annabeth in the middle. She'd always wanted her own love story.

"I just wanted to call you over to ask if you'd had any ideas for the leadership positions in the city. I know a lot of great candidates for the Greek side but I think you'd probably be the best person for choosing from the Romans. Just wanna make sure both sides feel represented ya know?" He said this so genuinely she almost threw up.

"I have a couple ideas for some people, can I get a list back to you tomorrow?"

As she finished saying goodbye to the legendary couple Reyna turned quickly to continue her run, plugging her headphones back in and pulling her iPod up to play the song again. During this flurry of activity she wasn't quite able to see the small, dainty figure of one Daughter of Pluto walk out the forest and into her, causing them both to fall to the floor.

"Gods this feels amazing." Thought Leo as he blazed down the street in the custom motorcycle he'd built for himself. It was a plain enough model that allowed him to inconspicuously get around places and leave the occasional monster in the dust.

The conversation he'd just had with Hazel had left him with much to think about. He'd felt alone and ignored but maybe it's not that simple. Growing up running from house to house wasn't easy, there were times as a kid where he felt like the whole world was against him. And now that he knows he's a demigod he was not so far off before. But having the Seven around, having his friends was good for him. Is good for him. That trip to save the world was one of scariest adventures he'd ever been on but what he got out of it was something he'd never had before, family. Sure they tended to neglect him at times but they were all young, busy, and spending as much time as they could with ones they love.

The air blew threw his long curly hair as he zipped down the highway, not really going anywhere yet still moving. The long steel titans in the city stood tall with their glass skin as they lived their lives, watching and observing. He wonders how many of these buildings watched his siblings die in the war against the Titans. Did they watch as Percy led an army of children against monsters of legend? Did they watch as Silena Beauregard fell to a drakon, all for trusting someone she used to consider an friend? Did they watch as Luke Castellan sold his soul to Kronos because he'd felt abandoned by those who should've been there. What cost must every demigod pay for being born? Leo had been told all of this on the ship by Percy during the nights he'd pilot and Percy couldn't sleep after getting back from Tartarus. He would come up with dark circles under his eyes and simply sit near Leo as he navigated. They'd talk about nothing and everything during those hours. He'd tell the story of how he learned Morse code and Percy would tell him why he only ate blue food. Leo learned a lot from Percy. He learned the price of being a hero from Percy. He learned basic sword techniques from Percy. It was also from Percy where Leo learned that not all scars heal.

It was one of the nights where they didn't talk. Percy had come up around 2 am and hadn't said a word since. Leo could recognize haunted look in his eyes and decided to just enjoy the companionship of his friend. It was two hours later when he first spoke.

"I've already killed so many people and I can't even drink yet." whispered Percy as he looked around at the clouds surrounding them."Worse part is I don't even know all their names. And they call me a hero for it."

"You were at war Percy."

"A war I had no control over. A war I didn't want. And now we fly into another."

"Percy can I ask you a question?"

He looked up at me and slowly nodded.

"Does it ever get better."

He was a silent for a long time, just staring at the sky with an almost peaceful look before replying,

"It doesn't. I always remember that I've killed other kids, most just for hating the fact that their parent had ignored them. And it hurts everyday but it honestly helps having people around. It's not distracting yourself from what you'd done but instead reminding yourself everyday that it wasn't for no reason. I get to see kids run around the camp laughing and making ugly art. I get to see Annabeth every day. It's not about it getting better Leo. It's about being okay with being okay."

"We're going off to fight another war."

"I know."

"Are you scared? Not just to die but to kill? I don't know if I can do this." At this Percy looked at me and stood for the first time in 4 hours. He put both hand on my shoulders and told me something I'll never forget.

"It's okay to be scared. It's okay not be ready to take another life. But it's not okay to doubt Leo fuckin Valdez okay? Not only are you one of Seven, you're also a young teenage kid doing his best in impossible situations. And winning."

"The prophecy says the the world must fall to storm or fire."

"Looks like you might end up destroying the world then Mr. Valdez" replied Percy with a soft smile. He sat back down, placing his hand in his pockets and returning to simply watching the world go by as they swam through the sky. The early fingers of sunlight had begun to grab at the night sky, creating a beautiful painting of red and orange for both to admire.

"We're almost at Olympus."

"Guess it's time to be a hero."

 _"Guess it's time to be a hero."_


End file.
